How to Connect Plaid to Claude AI

Connect the Plaid API to Claude via MCP. Analyze bank transactions, account balances, and financial data with AI using AnythingMCP.

Analyze Financial Data with Claude

Plaid has no MCP connector. With AnythingMCP, you can convert Plaid's REST API into an MCP server and let Claude query linked bank accounts, transactions, and financial insights.

What You Need

A Plaid developer account (https://dashboard.plaid.com)
Docker installed
Claude Desktop or any MCP-compatible AI client

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Deploy AnythingMCP

git clone https://github.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp.git
cd anythingmcp && docker compose up -d

Step 2: Get Plaid API Keys

Sign up at https://dashboard.plaid.com. Get your client_id and sandbox/development secret. Use sandbox first for testing with test credentials.

Step 3: Create a REST Connector

Create a REST connector with base URL https://sandbox.plaid.com (or https://development.plaid.com for real data). Add PLAID-CLIENT-ID and PLAID-SECRET headers.

Step 4: Expose Key Endpoints

POST /accounts/balance/get — Account balances
POST /transactions/get — Transaction history
POST /institutions/get_by_id — Bank details
POST /categories/get — Transaction categories
POST /investments/holdings/get — Investment holdings

Step 5: Connect Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "plaid": {
      "url": "http://localhost:4000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Step 6: Ask Claude About Your Finances

"What's my total balance across all linked accounts?"
"How much did I spend on dining this month?"
"Show me my largest transactions from the last week"
"What's my spending trend by category?"
"Summarize my investment holdings"

Security Best Practices

Start with Plaid Sandbox for testing
Only expose read endpoints
Encrypt access tokens at rest
Enable AnythingMCP audit logging